Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Yea, I Voted

For most people, a great candidate is someone who articulates their personal major policy preferences successfully (it's funny how many truly smart Democrats observe that Bill Clinton is 'really smart' after meeting him; they mean to say, he's powerful and I agree with him). I consider a candidate great if I suspect they vote for things as I would after investing a great deal of time evaluating the proposal. That is, they have my preferences and vision as to how the world works, but are much more knowledgeable about various facts. This may seem self-centered, but my preferences and world-view are based on my best guess on the truth, taking into consideration all that I know, including the arguments of those I disagree with. I don't see many candidates like that, so I just had fun, wondering how many people knew anything about the 40 judges and Water Commissioner we were voting on. I voted for the Constitution Party for President, because I didn't know anything about them, but I'm definitely not anti-Constitution.

As I have noted before, leaders are paradoxically not our 'best and brightest'. They are slightly-above-average people with a patience for protocol and process, who offend the least but are not stupid. In school I remember many groups talking about the excellence of leaders, about how to train leaders, and select them, as if they were like candidates for the Apollo program where you have all these 'best of the best' filters. In contrast, politicians, especially successful ones (eg, read Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson) are smarmy, insincere, flattering nabobs, the kind of people who adopt a southern accent when campaigning in the south, who speak with great conviction about meaningless platitudes ('I'm for children/change/peace'). I'm more impressed by the character and intelligence of the head of accounts receivable for a mid-sized company, or an assistant high-school football coach.

5 comments:

Eric, The constitution party thanks you for your courage in announcing your support. We're happy to embrace another believer that our rights, as embodied in the constitution, descend directly from our Lord, Jesus Crist. As it says in the very first sentence of our Party Platform: PREAMBLEWe, the members of the Constitution Party of Minnesota, an affiliate of the U. S. Constitution Party, do acknowledge and revere the benevolence and sovereignty of God and the eternal salvation offered to us in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.Sincerely James Niemackl, US Senate Candidate for the Constitution Party of MNjames@jamesforsenate.orgFor more information contact info@jamesforsenate.org

For more information about the Constitution Party of Minnesota, Please go to http://www.cpmn.org. For more information about the US Constitution Party: www.constitutionparty.com. To Donate Now, please go to this link: http://www.cpmn.org/index.cfm?t=0&p=18Sincerely James Niemackl, US Senate Candidate for the Constitution Party of MNjames@jamesforsenate.orgFor more information contact info@jamesforsenate.org

err, while I think Jesus was a fine person I don't think he was a relative of God, and to the extent there are forces beyond our knowledge, I'm not sure the standard anthropocentric attributes given to 'him' are probable (his envy, his interest in individuals) ... maybe there is an atheistic wing of the Constitution party?

James and Eric, I looked over the Constitution Party as the way to cast my protest vote. Went Libertarian. Isn't the Constitution Party the one that wants to end the income tax and finance the government the way the Constitution approves: exclusively through tariffs, since the federal government can have no impact on domestic business activity or impose domestic fees? Or is that some other party. Either way, I was fine with that plank. You guys disagreed with the Libertarians on trade: you call for an immediate withdrawal from WTO, GATT, NAFTA, and every other trade organization. The Libertarians thought there should be free trade. I agree with Libertarians there. You also disagreed with the Libertarians on Abortion, Pornography, and Drugs. Apparently the "promote the General Welfare" clause trumps the limited government concept. But you agree on banking, which appealed to me: Abolish the Federal Reserve System and Fractional Banking. That seems to be the root of the current instability. Regardless, as an avid consumer of Internet Pornography, I had to go Libertarian. Sincerely, Somebody who won't disclose their name since they admit they are an avid consumer of internet pornography